Beldum Line/SM
Beldum is found as a 10% Encounter on Mt. Hokulani only The great psuedolegendary returns again, in the form of a 10% Encounter on Mt.Hokulani. If you are lucky enough to grab one, you have a solid team member for the entire game. Although it drops in power in the Metang stage, Eviolite should more than make up for the lost power. Once you have Metagross, you have a Pokemon who can make mincemeat of the enemy. Sadly, Mega Metagross is locked until Post-game, but regular Metagross can wreck Alola anyways. Important Matchups All matchups are considered with 31 IVs in all stats, 0 EVs, and a neutral Nature * Totem Vikavolt (Hokulani Observatory): Metang's high defense helps a lot against this Totem. Spark should 3-4HKO, while Continental Crush (Z-Rock Tomb) + Rock Tomb should KO the Totem. All the other moves are resisted. * Guzma (Malie Garden):'2 Rock Tombs are enough to trigger Golisopod's Emergency Exit, while First Impression + Razor Shell can't KO Eviolite Metang. Spam Rock Tomb on Ariados, then on Golisopod * '''Totem Mimikyu (Thrifty Megamart):'Use Eviolite Metang - Corkscrew Crash variants can't deal with the damage outputs. It is the only way you can actually survive 1 Night Shade (ally Haunter) and 1 Shadow Claw without Defense boosts. But Shadow Claw is a 2HKO with Eviolite anyways. This is a very hard battle for Metang,maybe even the hardest it can encounter as a Metang since Mimikyu hits very, very hard with SE STAB Shadow Claw. At the start of the battle, you need to use 3 X Defenses to reach +6 Defense - or else, Metang is going to die without sustained healing. Even at +4, 1 Shadow Claw and 1 Night Shade will do over 50%. Only at +6 does it tone down a bit - but max damage rolls will still hit for 50%. As for your selection of moves, Bullet Punch has Priority, but has a chance to 4HKO; Metal Claw can raise Attack, but has a chance to 3HKO, while Gyro Ball will 3HKO, it relies on the fact that Metang is slow. You might want to toss in an X Attack while setting up. At +2, even Bullet Punch will 3HKO, with a chance for a 2HKO.The allies - Haunter & Gengar are OHKOed by Zen Headbutt from +0 Attack. Remember while setting up - since you are using items, Disguise will still be up, (unless you used a U-Turn to switch into Metang); which means that you will have to his an extra turn to break the Disguise. To add to the massive problems this matchup has, Haunter and Gengar have Hypnosis, and love spamming it. If you try to knock out the allies first, you have to put in an X Sp Defense, or Gengar's Shadow Ball can 2HKO. . . . And this strategy can just fall apart with 1 Shadow Claw crit - more than likely with the increased crit ratio. Honestly, this is a bad matchup for poor Metang, and if you want to keep one alive, it's better to keep it as far away from Mimikyu as possible. But if you have nearly 0 options for this fight, Metang can be useful. * '''Plumeria (Route 15): Spam Rock Tomb on Golbat. Stay away from Salazzle. * Guzma (Shady House): Learn Rock Slide and start spamming it. Use Eviolite Metang to be on the safe side - but Continental Crush should trigger Emergency Exit right away. * Gladion (Aether House): Rock Slide the Golbat and Sneasel, and use Zen Headbutt or Brick Break on Type:Null. * Nanu (Malie City, Dark-type): Metang doesn't like Nanu; the only Pokemon it can handle is Sableye - Krokorok has Earthquake, while Alola-Persian has Fur Coat and Z-Dark Pulse Black Hole Eclipse. If you're lucky you may survive one. * Faba (Aether Paradise): Steel/Psychic? Battling Psychic types? Spam Steel move of choice and win. * Faba (Aether Paradise, tag battle with Hau): Whether there is 1 Psychic or 3; Metang's quad Psychic resist definitely doesn't care. Just look out for Bruxish's Crunch though. * Guzma (Aether Paradise): ROCK SLIDE. ROCK SLIDE EVERYWHERE. But Eviolite is a must for this battle. * Lusamine (Aether Paradise): Use your Steel move of choice for Clefable. The rest either hit too hard, or Metang can't do much in return, or both. * Hapu (Vast Poni Canyon, Ground-type): Good News: You have a Metagross now. Bad News: Her team is filled with Ground types. Avoid. * Totem Kommo-o (Vast Poni Canyon): Zen Headbutt is a 2HKO, and Shattered Psyche is an OHKO. * Lusamine (Ultra Space): Meteor Mash the Clefable before it picks up boosts. Mismagius and Milotic are very hard to beat, spam Zen Headbutt on Liligant and Hammer Arm on Bewear. * Solgaleo (Altar of the Sunne, Sun only): Matching up against the Metagross knock off eh? Crunch 2HKO's, bad idea. * Lunala (Altar of the Moone, Moon only): Moongeist Beam? Psychic types? OHKO. * Gladion (Mount Lanakila): Rock Slide the Crobat and Hammer Arm Weavile (careful of Night Slash), avoid Silvally-Fire for obvious reasons, while Zen Headbutt 3HKOs the remaining Silvally, but Crunch is also a 3HKO, so you would have to heal in between. An easy matchup. * Hau (Mount Lanakila): Hau's Raichu outspeeds and 2HKOs with Thunderbolt. For the Eeveelutions, avoid Flareon; Vaporeon is 3HKOed by Zen Headbutt, but can 2HKO with Hydro Pump and is faster; spam Meteor Mash on Leafeon. Among the starters, avoid Incineroar like the plague; Primarina can OHKO with Hydro Vortex, but Corkscrew Crash has less odds of landing an OHKO and is not recommended; Decidueye can be OHKOed by Corkscrew Crash , but Spirit Shackle is a 2HKO, so following up with Bullet Punch is recommended (if you are slower than 88 Speed) . * Elite Four Hala (Pokémon League, Fighting-type): Spam Zen Headbutt. There should be surviors. Even Bewear is OHKOed by Shattered Psyche * Elite Four Olivia (Pokémon League, Rock-type): Meteor Mash the Carbink and Golem, Corkscrew Crash Lycanroc, be careful around Relicanth, and avoid Probopass's Earth Power. * Elite Four Acerola (Pokémon League, Ghost-type): Steel lost its Ghost resistance, and so did Metagross's chance against her. * Elite Four Kahili (Pokémon League, Flying-type): Hammer Arm Skarmory, Rock Slide Crobat and Toucannon, be wary of Oricorio's Revelation Dance, since it can OHKO at level 55 and below, and a crit is an OHKO always, and Continental Crush and Rock Slide together 2HKO Mandibuzz, while the best it can do is Bone Club, which only does over 50% when 4+ hits all crit. * Professor Kukui (Pokémon League): Meteor Mash the Lycanroc and Alola-Ninetales, Hammer Arm the Snorlax and Magnezone, Rock Slide the Braviary. As for the starters, again, avoid Incineroar like the plague; Primarina can definetely OHKO Metagross with Hydro Vortex; Corkscrew Crash OHKOs Decidueye, while Decidueye can only 2HKO with Spirit Shackle (barring crits) * Tapu Koko (Ruins of Conflict): Metagross are slow, Electro Ball is unresisted, and Electric resists Steel. Better to sit this one out. * Post-Game: Dexio gives you the Mega Ring! WRECK STUFF WITH MEGA METAGROSS BABY! Moves Beldum knows Take Down upon capture. Evolve immediately. Due to SuMo's new Evo Move feature, Metang learns Metal Claw and Confusion at any level upon evolving! Yay! Anyways, if you were lucky enough to get a lvl 25 Beldum, you also get Bullet Punch on evolving (at 26 that is), otherwise you get Miracle Eye at 29, utter garbage. Your next move is Zen Headbutt, you main Physical Psychic STAB! Metang also learns Scary Face at 35, Psychic at 38, and Agility at 41, stuff you wouldn't want on your Metagross. And at lvl 44, one away from evolution, Metang learns Meteor Mash! This is your main Steel STAB, and a cool move in general too. Upon evolution to Metagross, it learns Hammer Arm, which is great coverage. At 52, Metagross learns Iron Defense, not really needed with its high base Defense, and lastly, at lvl 60, it learns Hyper Beam, not such a great move for it since the P/S split. Metagross being a pseudo-legendary, has a deep and diverse TM movepool, with coverage in Brick Break, Bulldoze, Rock Slide, Gyro Ball, but sadly its best coverage TM - Earthquake is locked until post game. It also has a bunch of neat Special options, like Shadow Ball, Flash Cannon, Psychic, and Sludge Bomb, but considering Metagross's garbage Special Attack, do you really want to use them? Recommended moveset: Meteor Mash, Hammer Arm , Zen Headbutt, Bullet Punch/Other Coverage Recommended Teammates Grass- and Electric-Types: Metagross lacks the capability to hurt Water- and Ground-types, so Grass- and Electric-types help you check these threats. Good Pokemon that fit the description, among others: Alolan-Raichu, Oricorio, Lurantis, Shiinotic, Alolan-Exeggutor, Alolan-Golem Dark- and Fast/Bulky Ghost-Types: Since Gen 6, Steel lost its resistances against Dark and Ghost, and while the Dark weakness is handled effectively by Brick Break, and later Hammer Arm, Metagross lacks the moves to hurt a Ghost outside of Shadow Ball. Dark-types are a great help in this regard. Ghost-types are good too, but they need to be fast, because many Ghost threats are fast too, or bulky enough to take hits. Good Pokemon that fit the description, among others: Absol, Palossand, Gengar, Alolan-Persian, Mimikyu, Krookodile Other Beldum's stats Metang's stats Metagross' stats * What Nature do I want? Anything that raises Attack is a godsend. It doesn't really mind Defense or Special Attack drops, so Lonely or Adamant is perfect. Even Naughty or Brave is a good nature. A small Speed boost is really helpful in many battles, so natures like Hasty, Jolly and Naive are also helpful. * Which Ability do I want? Clear Body is what you are generally going to get - Light Metal, even if you chain for it, doesn't affect anything in any major matchup - the only use you're going to get is reducing damage from Kukui's Snorlax's Heavy Slam. But Clear Body has a definite edge, as its stats cannot be lowered by the opponent, providing safe switch-ins to Intimidate, and no Attack, Speed or Accuracy drops from the opponent (Self-inflicted ones, like Hammer Arm's speed drop will still work though). * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Evolve Beldum ASAP - Take Down isn't great. You get STAB upon evolution too. Metang should be evolved while grinding for Hapu. * How good is the Beldum line in a Nuzlocke? If you get one, you get a solid teammate for most the midgame, and a monster in the end game. It has great Defense and Attack, Eviolite helps patch up the power drops in the late-midgame, and great Coverage too. Slap one on the team if you get it - it's that great. * 'Weaknesses:'Ground, Ghost, Fire, Dark * 'Resistances:'Normal, Flying, Rock, Steel, Grass, Psychic (1/4x), Ice, Dragon, Fairy * 'Immunities:'Poison * 'Neutralities:'Fighting, Bug, Water, Electric Category:Sun/Moon Category:To be reviewed